Martha Paynter

Just awful, clunky, and emotionally flat. As someone who never read the book Dune, I had no idea it what it was about and by the end of this movie, felt the same. The importance of spice was explicitly stated — but I never felt the desperation around it (as in the “precious” ring in “Lord of the Rings) Again the dryness and lack of water was explicitly stated — but I never felt anything about it. I don’t even think I even saw the main characters sweat. Just lots for beautiful blowing sand (and hair). The sound mixing was awful. Dialogue was inaudible and battles were ear shattering. I had to keep turning the sound up and down. Music was overused and overbearing. I didn’t connect emotionally with a single character. It seemed like the director could have easily cut this by 45 minutes to pick up the pacing — it c-r-a-w-l-e-d. I am shocked by all the rave reviews. My guess is many are Dune the book devotees so the knew the story well.